Package-filling machine.



PATENTBD AUG. 8, 1905.

H. SMITH.

PACKAGE FILLING MACHINE.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENT can.

% M Q} QZAfM APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2.1904.

FIG-.1.

WITNESSEE:

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

H. SMITH.

PACKAGE FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED HAB..2,1904.

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E Wryb WITNESSES:

No. 796,611. PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905. 11. SMITH.

memes FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.2.1904.

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PATENTED AUG. 8, 1905.

S E. SMITH. PACKAGE FILLING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED HAB..2.1904.

4 SHBETSSHEET 4.

WITNESSES INVE'N'T [3B1 76 Ma .94: a W

CWZLL f6. dlmm UN ITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE;

HARRY SMITH, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO PNEUMATIC SCALE CORPORATION LIMITED, A

CORPORATION I OF MAINE.

PACKAGE-FILLING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1905.

Application filed March 2, 1904. Serial No. 196,160.

To LLZZ whont it may concern.- 7

Be it known that I, HARRY SMITH, of Bos ton, in the county of Suffolkand State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Package-Filling Machines, of which the following is aspecification.

The invention is especially intended for use in that class of weighingand packaging machines in which the cartons receive a portion of therequired amount of material-through one hopper or feeder and are thenremoved by a carrier to a position where they receive an additionalsupply to complete the desired amount.

In putting up certain classes of material, such as rolled oats and otherlight and flaky or fluffy material, it is necessary to provide somemeans for pressing the material down into the carton in order to pack itas compactly as demanded by the trade. Means have heretofore beendevised for shaking and squeezing the packages when bags have beenemployed for fine material, like flour, and tappers have been used withcans. In Patent No. 750,830, issued February 2, 1904, on the applicationof WV. H. Doble, mechanism was provided for weighing out the materialinto dummies and then discharging it from the dummies into cartonsthrough funnels and then forcing and pressing it down into the cartonsby a plunger which descends through the funnel into the carton beneath.

The present invention is intended especially for double-hopper machinesin which the material is fed into the cartons and weighed in themwithout the intervention of dummies.

It is found that the material can be packed,

more compactly and with less danger of bursting the carton if it besubjected to the pressing operation at least once before the load iscompleted and again after the completion of the load.

In the apparatus shown in Patent No. 750,830, above mentioned, thereceiving-funnel holds the overflow of the fluffy material before it isplunged. In machines in which receiving-funnels are not used if thecontents are plunged once after a partial supply the upwardly-extendingflaps in the upper end of the carton serve to retain enough material inits fluffy state at the second or scale feed, so that at the secondplunging operation the body of the carton will be compactly filled. Whenemployed with a weighing-machine such as shown, in which the cartonreceives its final supply through the drip-hopper, as it is termed,while on the scale, the first press should preferably be applied at apoint in the path of travel between the two feeds, and the second pressshould be applied after the carton has been removed from the scale.

In the class of machine shown the carrier has an intermittent rotarymovement and thefeed chutes or hoppers are placed atsuch distance apartthat there will be at least one period of rest in the travel of thecarton after it has been removed from the position of the preliminaryfeed before it reaches the position similar to Fig. 2 after the plungerhas descended. Fig. 4 is a plan showing the carton engaged by theportion of the casing which is attached to the carton-carrier arm andabout to be delivered into position on the supporting-table for thedescent of the plunger. Fig. 5 is a rear view of the backsupporting-plate and the shaft and sleeve which carry the operating-cam.Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional plan on line 6 6 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is avertical section showing the rear support and the shaft andoperating-cam. Fig. 8 is a detail view showing the plunger-operatingshaft and driving mechanism and connection with the Fig.

carrier-ring of the weighing-machine.

9 is a section on line 9 9 of Fig. 8 looking to the right. Fig. 10 is adetail plan of a portion of the carrier-ring and connecting-rod and camshown in the lower portion of Fig. 8.

The weighing mechanism will be but briefly described, as that of itselfis not claimed in. the present application.

' project from the standard 18.

The cartons 1 receive their preliminary suphereinafter described.

While at one of the stages of rest between the two hoppers the cartonstands on a bracketshelf 8 or other suitable support, which ex tends upbetween the tracks, and while in this position the materialalready inthe carton is subjected to the first pressing operation.

At one of the succeeding movements of the carrier the carton isdeposited on the scale, where it receives the completion of its load.When the scale tips, a reciprocating member 9 is caused to move inadirection to close the scale-hopper valve. At each cycle of operationthe carrier-ring 7 is moved through an are equal to the distance betweentwo of the carrier-arms 6.

Mechanism by which the carrier-ring 7 may be given the intermittentmovement and the hopper-valves opened and closed is fully shown anddescribed in Patent No. 716,007, issued December 16, 1902, and PatentNo. 720,008, issued February 10, 1903.

A pinion 10 engages with teeth in the ring 7, the said pinion being onan upright shaft which passes through a bearing 11 and is connected withthe driving-shaft 12 by clutch 13 and miter-gears 14 15, inclosed in thebox above the clutch. (See Fig. 8.) Each time that the pinion makes onerevolution the carrier-ring 7 is moved through the arc necessary tobring another carton into position. The operation and detail descriptionof this mechanism is fully given in said Patent No. 720,008. 1

As previously stated, the pressure devices for both positions are alikeand are driven simultaneously. The press and its operating mechanismwill now be described.

A presser plate or block 16, of suitable shape to go into the cartonfrom above, is mounted on a vertically-reciprocable plunger rod 17,which is so positioned that when the carrier-ring stops thepresser-plate will be in Vertical alinement above the top of the carton,which is then resting on the bracket-shelf 8, fixed to the standard 18.Said rod 17 slides in bearings 19 20 on arms 21 22, which Rod 17 isconnected by a cross-head 23 with a slide-rod 24, which moves inbearings 25 26, which are also on arms 21 22, so that rods 17 and 24will move together. The purpose of the rod 24 is to control, themovement of the hinged supporting-walls 53 and 56 for the carton, aswill be hereinafter described.

The means for operating the rods 17 and 24 are as follows: Carried by arotary shaft 28 is a crank-disk 29. A crank 30 is connected at one endwith said disk by means of a pin 31, and at its other end it-isjournaled on a stud projecting from the cross-head 23, so that ateachrotation of the shaft 28 the rods 17 and 24 will make a completestroke down and up.

It is important that the movement of the plunger and press shall betimed with relation to the carrier-ring 7 so that when the pressdescends the carton shall be in position to receive it. The drivingmechanism for the shaft 28 is controlled by the carrier-ring 7 in suchmanner that the shaft 28 will begin to rotate when the carrier-ringcomes to a rest, and mechanism is provided to stop the rotation of shaft28 at the end of each rotation. Loosely mounted on said shaft 28 is apulley 32, which is continuously driven by a belt 33 or other suitablemeans. Fast to pulley 32 is a ratchet-wheel 34. (See Figs. 8 and 9.) Adog 35 is pivoted at 36 tov an arm 37, which projects from a collar 38,fixed to shaft 28. When the toe of the dog engages with the ratchet, theshaft 28 will be turned. A spring 39 tends to throw the dog into suchengagement and to hold it thusengaged, except when held out ofengagement by the stop-lever 40. Said stop-lever 40 is fulcrumed at 41and is shown in the form of a bell-crank, one arm of which is adapted toengage with the heel of the dog 35 and the other arm of which ispivotally connected with the upper end of a rod 42. said rod 42 is anarm 27, whose outer end is connected with a cam-lever 43, which is piv--oted at 44 to the flange on the fixed ring 45, said fixed ring formingthe support for the rotary ring 7. A spring 46, one end of which isattached tov the said cam-lever and the other end of which is attachedto an arm 47, secured to the fixed ring 45, normally holds the camlever43 in its uppermost position. On the upper side of said cam-lever 43 isa projection or hump which when the lever is in its normal positionextends up into the path of the arms 6, which project from thecarrierring. The movement of the carrier-ring is toward'the left asviewed in Fig. 8, one of the arms 6 having just passed the top of theincline 48 and riding on the decline side. The hump on said cam-leverhas an inclined surface 48 on the approach side, over which the arm 6rides, thus gradually turning the lever 43 down on its pivot until thetop of the hump is reached, and has a decline 49 on the departure end toallow the gradual rise of the lever as the arm 6 rides off. In Fig. 8

one of the arms 6 has just passed the top of the incline 48 and isriding on the decline side 49. When the said lever is turned down, itpulls down the connecting-rod 42 and turns the l stop-lever 40 out ofengagement with the dog,

Projecting from the lower end of as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6.

and allows the spring 39 to throw the dog into engagement with theratchet 34, so that the shaft 28 will begin to revolve. When the arm 6passes ofl? from the lever 43,so that the lever rises, it pushes up theconnecting-rod 42 and turns stop-lever back into position to engagethe'heel of the dog 35 as soon as the rotation of the shaft 28 bringsthe ratchet around into position for such engagement, and thereby tripsthe dog from the ratchet and the shaft 28 will cease to revolve. Thecamlever 43 is so located that one of the arms 6 will just pass over itbefore the carrier-ring stops, so that the shaft 28 will not begin torevolve until just as the ring 7 comes to a rest.

While the material is being pressed into the carton it is desirable thatthe carton shall be held steady and supported on all four sides toprevent bursting or bulging out of the sides. The supports for two ofthe sides that is, the rear side and the radially inner sideare carriedby the arms 6and serve also to push the cartons along on the track.These supports consist of an angle-plate 5, attached to an angle-bar orcasting 50, which is secured to the arm 6. Formed as a part of theangle-bar or secured thereto on the advance end is a lug 51, whichextends part way across the advance side of the carton and having itsend 52 beveled inwardly, forming a catch to lock the swinging side plate53 of the case which supports the advance side of the carton during thepressing operation, as will be hereinafter described.

Secured to the rear face of the rear arm of the angle-plate 5, near itsouter end, is a lug 54, having its end 55 beveled outwardly to aid inlocking the swinging side plate 56 of the case, which supports theradially outer side of the carton during the pressing operation, as willbe hereinafter described. Side plate 56 is hinged at the bottom, as on apin 58. A spring 59 tends to turn the side plate 56 back on its hinge,as viewed in Fig. 2 and in plan in Fig. 4. Attached to the vertical edgeof the frame which is toward the approaching carton is a lug 60, whoseend 61 is beveled on the inner side complementary to the beveled end 55of the lug 54.

The side plate 53, which supports the advance side of the carton, isattached to or formed integral with a frame 62, which is hinged to thevertical edge of the plate 56 by a pin 63 on the side fartherfrom theadvancing carton, so that the frame 62 and the side plate 53 carriedthereby have a double swinging movementthat is, when the side plate 56is turned on its horizontal pivot 58 the frame 62 and plate 53 turn withitand the frame 62 and plate 53 also have independent swinging movementon the pin 63, A spring 64 (see Fig. 5) tends to keep the sideplate 53closed across the path of the carton.

tached to the plate 53 is a lug 65, having its end 66 beveled on theouter side complementary to the-beveled end 52 on the lug 51. Attachedto or integral with a sleeve 67 on the slide-rod 24 is a cam 68, whichwhen the sliderod 24 and the plunger-rod 17 descend engageswith a roller69, journaled in a boss projecting from the side plate 56, and swingsthe side plate 56 up into a vertical position to engage the carton afterthe carton reaches its position on the table 8 before the press 16 hasdescended into the carton.

The carton will have reached its position on the table before theslide-rod descends, and the boss 51 will therefore be in the positionshown in Fig. 6. i

The side plate 53 and its frame 62 will, as previously stated, he heldby the spring64 crosswise of the path of the carton, so that when thecam 68 turns the plate 56 up into the vertical position the wedge end ofthe lug 65 will swing down into the recess formed by the beveled end ofthe lug 51, which thereby prevents the side plate 53 from being turnedback on its hinge until the slide-rod 24 rises again and lifts theplates 56 and 53 and releases the lug 65 from engagement with lug 51.When the side plate 56 swings into the vertical position, it also turnsthe beveled end of lug down behind the beveled end of lug 54, as shownin Fig. 6. When the press is down, the cam 68 holds the plate 56 fromturning back on its hinge. Thus the carton is supported on two sides bythe swinging plates 55 and 56 and on the other two sides by the two armsof the angle-plate 5, carried by the carrier-arm 6, until the press hascom pleted its downward movement and has risen partially.

It is desirable that the cam 68 shall rise only far enough to allow theside plates 56 and 53 to swing back sufficiently to release thelocking-lugs and to allow the cartons freedom of movement by the carrierand that when the plunger descends again the cam will be in position toimmediately throw the plate 56 up into position to support the carton.This is provided for by limiting the movement of the cam, whatever maybe the length of stroke of the plunger-rod, in the following manner: Thesleeve 67 is loose enough on the rod 24 to permit the rod to slidethrough it when the sleeve is restrained; but the sleeve is held to therod so as to move with it unless restrained. The means shown for thusholding it is as follows, (see Figs. 5 and 7:) In the side of the sleeveis a tubular boss 70, within which is a washer 71, pressed against therod 24 by a spring 72, which is held in place and under tension by ascrew 73. The friction of the washer is sufiicient to normally clamp thesleeve to the rod tight enough to move with it.

Secured to the standard 18 is a plate 7 4, having an elongated slot 75,which is engaged by a pin 76, projecting from the sleeve 67. When .Fig.3.

during the first part of the descent until the pin 76 strikes thebottomof the slot 75,-thus causing the cam to close the: side plates, and therod 24-willcontinue the descent together with the press-plunger 17.

The "particular form of mechanism for throwing-the swinging side platesin and out and locking them may beyaried without departing from thescope of the inventionpand the form of the side supports also may bevaried. One'of the main features of theinvention is to providesome meansby which to subject the contents of the cartonto'atleast two pressingoperations-one to press thematerialdown into thecarton afterithasreceived'the preliminary supply and again after it has received the.completion of-its supply.

The rods 17 and 24 rise during the latter partof the'rotation'of shaft28 and lift the press away from'the oartomand as the'in clined part ofthe cam "IlCiQS pastthe-roll 69 the plate 56'will bezturned'back on itshinge bythe'spring 59. As plate 56turns back it; also turns up'the'plate53 and its frame 62, thus releasing the lug 65 from engagement, with lug51, but still leaving the plate 53-extending crosswise of the trackbyreason of the pressure by its spring 64:.

When the carrier-ring 7 makes :its next movement,the filled cartonwill-engage the plate 53 and push it back on itshinge 63, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 6, until the carton has passed out of engagementwith it. Then the spring 64 will turn the plate 53 again across thetrack, but in a tilted position as long as the plate 56 is turned backon its hinge, but ready to be turned down again into looking positionwhen the plunger-rod 24 again descends.

What I claim is 1. A package-filling machine having in combination twointermittently-actuated feeds for successively supplying material toeach package, two presses, a package-carrier, and mechanism controlledby the package-carrier to actuate one press to enter the package andpress down the material supplied by the first feed and mechanismcontrolled by the said carrier to actuate the other press to enter thepackage and 'press the material after it receives the supply from thesecond feed.

2. In a package-filling machine, two feed mechanisms, intermittentpackage-moving mechanism which moves each receptacle in succession undereach feed and away from the second feed with a rest in its passage fromthe first feed position to said second feed position,and a rest in itspassage awayfrom the said second feed'positioma vertically-movablepressabove an intermediate'position of rest of the receptacle between thefeeds and a vertically-movable. press above-a position of rest of thefilled receptacle after it passes from the second feed, 1 mechanismwhich actuates'both of said presses to simultaneously descend into theirrespectivezreceptacles and press the material therein, mechanism controlled by the package-moving mechanism to actuate said presses, and amovable guard controlled by the descent of the press to moveinto=position to support-the sides of 1 the cartons during thepressingoperation.

3. A weighing and package-filling machine having twofeed-supplies, anintermittinglymoving carrier which carries each package successivelyinto positionito receive material from each supplyand' away therefromwith'a rest in the travel after each supply, means for *automaticallymoving said carrier, two presses, mechanism which actuates both of saidpresses to reciprocate simultaneously, mechanism which stops the pressesafter each complete reciprocation, mechanism controlled by-thesaidcarrier to release the said stop just before theend of eachmovementof the carrier, said presses being solocated that the carrier will bringeach package into position to be acted upon by one-press after receivingthe first supply and acted upon by the second press: after it is movedfrom theposition of the second supply.

4. In a package filling ma'chine, two feed mechanisms, intermittentpackage-moving mechanism which moves eachreceptacle in succession undereach feed andaway from the second feed with a rest in its passage'fromthe first feed position to said'second feed'position, and a rest in itspassage away from the said second feed position, a vertically-movablepress above an'intermediateposition of rest of the receptacle-betweenthe feeds and a vertically-movable press above a position of restofthe'filled receptacle after itpasses from the second feed, mechanismwhich actuates both of said presses to simultaneously descend into theirrespective receptacles and press the material therein, and mechanismcontrolled by the packagemoving mechanism to actuate said presses.

5. In a package-filling machine,a cartoncarrier, mechanism fordelivering material into cartons, a vertically-movable press, mechanismfor actuating the carton-carrier intermittently and moving the cartonsfrom the place of filling to a position beneath the press, mechanismcontrolled by the moving carrier to actuate the press, a guard hinged onahorizontal pivot for supporting one wall of the carton during thepressing operation, a guard hinged to one side of said first guard tosupport another wall-of said carton whereby said second guard has twoswinging movements at right angles to each other, mechanism con.-trolled by the descent of the press to swing said guards into positionto support the carton, and mechanism for locking said guards againstswinging during the pressing operation.

6. In a package-filling machine, a cartoncarrier, mechanism fordelivering material into cartons, avertically-movable press, mechanismfor actuating the carton-carrier intermittently and moving the cartonsfrom the place of filling to a position beneath the press, mechanismcontrolled by the moving carrier to actuate the press, a guard hinged ona horizontal pivot for supporting one wall of the carton during thepressing operation, a guard hinged to one side of said first guard tosupport another wall of said carton whereby said second guard has twoswinging movements at right angles to each other, mechanism controlledby the descent of the press to swing said guards into position tosupport the carton, the carton-carrier having guards which support theother two sides of the carton, lugs on the guards attached to thecarrier and lugs attached to the swinging guards which interlock withsaid first-mentioned lugs whereby the four guards are held stationaryduring the pressing operation, substantially as described.

7. In a package-filling machine, an intermittently-rotatingreceptacle-carrier, mechanism for supplying material to the receptacles,a vertically-movable press above one of the stopping places of thereceptacles after it has received material, a rotatable shaft andintermediate mechanism whereby the said shaft actuates the press,driving mechanism for said shaft, clutch mechanism adapted to connectsaid driving mechanism with said shaft, stop mechanism which normallyholds said clutch out of engaging position between said shaft anddriving mechanism, and mechanism actuated by the movingreceptacle-carrier to release said stop, mechanism which then throws theclutch into engaging position to cause rotation of said shaft andmechanism which throws said stop into position to again disengage theclutch and stop rotation of said shaft.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

HARRY SMITH.

Witnesses: WILLIAM A. COPELAND, ALICE H. MORRISON.

